The logo of the Higher Shiite Council. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — The Higher Shiite Council denied on Wednesday that it had endorsed dismissing 15 sheikhs, after a controversial document spread online listing the names of the allegedly dismissed religious officials.
The now discredited text, which featured a Higher Shiite Council letterhead, caused criticism online, while some local media reported that the 15 sheikhs had been hostile to Hezbollah and the Amal Movement.
In a public statement, however, the council stopped short of saying the document was fake.
The document lists 15 sheikhs "to be considered unfit to carry out religious guidance or work on religious or personal status matters in the Shiite community, either because they have deviated from the dogma of Islam, or because of their actions, or because they do not know the religion or claim to belong to a religious school."
Among the sheikhs mentioned in the document is Yasser Audi, a Shiite cleric known for his opposition to Hezbollah and the Amal Movement.
In addition to Yasser Audi, the document lists Samer Abdel Hussein Ghanoui, Bilal Ibrahim Salim, Mohammad Youssef Hajj Hassan, Nizar Mohammad Hamzeh, Ibrahim Hassan Herz, Abdel Karim Cheikh Ali, Youssef Hassan Kanj, Ahmad Abbass Idi, Abou Hassan Mortada, Mohammad Ali Fouani, Hachem Ali Moussaoui, Mahmoud Abdallah Fakih, Abdel Salam Niazi Dandache and Nizar Jamal Jechi.
Reacting to the controversy that followed the circulation of this list, the Higher Shiite Council said in a statement that it had not endorsed the document. "This press release does not reflect the opinions of the Higher Shiite Council. It was not read by the Council's Vice-Chairman, Ulema Ali Khatib."
"We call to act as if it had not been published. We remind not to publish statements in the name of the Higher Shiite Council unless the document is signed by the Council's leadership," the statement went on.
Sheikh Audi, one of the clerics on the list, criticized the discredited document in an interview with the Al Jadeed news channel. "I'm not the one selling awqaf [religious community property] or mosques. Nor am I the one blocking a woman's life for years so she can see her children again," he added, in reference to strict religious laws about child custody.
"I think religious feudalism is worse than political feudalism. I have chosen to follow this path, even if it may cost me my life," Audi said.